Cycle Day 4: Getting Used to It

The morning Gonal-F shot was a breeze.  I even primed a new pen, and I didn't have to read the instructions.  I'm a Gonal-F pro.

I was not looking forward to the night time Menopur shot, but I came home straight from watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, and I must have had Harry, Hermione and friends on the brain, because I mixed the Menopur like a medical professional and wielded the syringe as if it were a basilisk tooth and my stomach were a horcrux.  (For those of you who don't get the reference, horcruxes are evil things that must be destroyed, and stabbing it with a basilisk tooth is one of the few ways to do the job).  I still had felt that unpleasant stinging at my skin, but I plunged away like a pro.  I didn't even ice the injection site beforehand.

I go in tomorrow morning for my Cycle Day 5 ultrasound and blood test.  After we see how my follicles are progressing, I will be given new instructions on my dosage amounts (which may stay the same or may increase/decrease).

I was surprised to get an e-mail back from my doctor today since it is Sunday.  His response to my request that he contextualize my treatment strategy was:

"Your follicle count was good and your hormone levels were normal… 12 eggs would be above average for a single cycle of egg freezing. 

Let’s take a look this week and we can get updated information.

So far so good.."

I admit that I wasn't totally happy to read that e-mail.  I know that he's trying to manage my expectations, but as someone undergoing egg freezing at a relatively young age, I do want somewhere near 12 eggs.  I know that there's nothing I can really do to control this, and I have to be OK with the potential disappointment that my "harvest" may not be especially bountiful, but I have to hold out hope.

Tomorrow, I plan to take advantage of my short time with the doctor (whichever doctor I see during the ultrasound) to drill down on a few questions:

• What is the follicle-to-mature-egg retrieval ratio?
• What is the average number of mature, viable eggs retrieved?
• Do they screen to make sure that eggs are "spindle positive"?  (I suspect yes.)  Does this screen for chromosomal abnormalities?  (I think not).
• What are the stats these days for converting retrieved eggs into successful IVF babies?
• When am I likely to retrieve?

In terms of side effects so far, I don't feel like I have many.  I did some light yoga today (doing the modified poses I've written about here), and I did feel like my ovary area felt "heavier" than usual on the left side.  I hope that means the hormones are working...